A LOVE of music prompted a Blackburn shoemaker to build the town’s Empire Theatre.

His name was Ferdinand Caton and the project was a real family affair.

For his son Robert, an electrical engineer, worked on the lighting, while a niece, Nellie Caton, provided all the curtaining for the stage at the new home to variety at Ewood. Another son, Fred was manager.

The story has been told by Ferdinand’s granddaughter, Dorothy Donelan, who lives in Blackburn, as the theatre prepares to celebrate its centenary in 2010.

The Caton home at the time was in Havelock Street and Ferdinand believed a theatre would be a big asset to the area.

Said Dorothy: “My grandfather was very keen on music. He went to a military school of music and was the leader of a military band in Blackburn.

“He had seven children and the three sons all had musical instruments, too.

“Because of this he was very keen for the acoustics to be perfect, so he hired a good architect, a Mr Greenwood of Billinge End Road.”

Dorothy revealed, however, that its construction wasn’t without problems as council officials determined to close it, saying the new building undermined the foundations of the nearby aqueduct.

She went on: “A court case began which went on 12 months and finished up at the Old Bailey. Happily grandfather won.”

In its first years the Empire was a true variety theatre, attracting many famous singers and acts of the times.

However, it had to change with the times and became a cinema, firstly showing silent films and later talkies.

Following Ferdinand’s death, his widow Alice continued the business, but the family finally sold up in the late 1940s, for £24,000.